Following a successful start to the record attempt on Monday night the team hit the expected light winds yesterday, lasting a little longer than anticipated the slow down has put the team a few hours behind the record pace. However, the wind has now returned and the British yachtswoman Dee Caffari and her all female crew onboard Aviva are confident that the forecast for the next couple of days will put them back ahead of schedule tonight.
Miranda Merron, the team navigator and weather expert commented:
“It took a while for the wind to return yesterday, so we lost the extra miles we had in hand from the first part, and then some. We had no choice but to submit to the light (albeit sunny) conditions, and there was much laughter and chat in between frequent manoeuvres. As Sam said yesterday, we really have had every sail up at some point. We have been doing a spot of tourism around some of the hundreds of oil rigs in the North Sea . At times, the wind causes Aviva to be inexorably drawn to them, in one case prompting a conversation with the guard ship on the VHF, though we passed the correct distance away from the rig.
“The wind has been building since sunset, and we have treated our tired bodies to a couple more high energy sail changes. There is now water pouring down the deck as Aviva surfs at up to 20 knots of boat speed, and we claw back some miles. There was a dove which misguidedly landed on deck to rest, but Dee says it recently got washed down the deck on its backside. We have 20-25 knots of wind, and it is forecast to build to gale force as the cold front approaches this afternoon. It’s going to be rather wet and wild. From the dry chart table, I can see Alex on deck, dressed in full foulies and lifejacket, with a huge smile on her face.”
At 09h00 this morning, Caffari and crew were passing Newcastle and were approximately 3 hours behind the pace required to beat the outright record.